Earthquakes in Messina

Messina, on the northeastern tip of Sicily facing the Italian mainland, sits in one of the highest seismic-risk zones in Europe. The narrow Strait of Messina is a young, rapidly deforming rift where the crust is stretching and active normal faults run beneath the seabed, close to a densely populated coastline. The same offshore faulting that generates strong earthquakes can also displace the seabed and trigger tsunamis, adding a second hazard to an already dangerous setting. Ground shaking is further amplified along the built-up coastal strip where much of the population lives.

The catastrophe of 28 December 1908 remains the deadliest earthquake in European history. A magnitude 7.1 shock struck before dawn and was followed within minutes by a tsunami with waves reported up to 10 metres or more, which swept the shores of both Messina and Reggio Calabria across the strait. Estimates of the death toll range widely but are generally put between 75,000 and over 100,000, with Messina itself largely flattened. The disaster prompted a huge international rescue response and led to some of the first modern anti-seismic building regulations in Italy. Because the faults beneath the strait remain active, the region is still considered capable of producing another major earthquake and tsunami.